TREATMENT FROM THE JEPSON MANUAL	previous taxon | next taxon Jepson Interchange (more information)
	©Copyright 1993 by the Regents of the University of California Print edition is available from the University of California Press

	The second edition of The Jepson Manual (2012) is available from the University of California Press
	See also the Jepson eFlora, which parallels the Second Edition

FABACEAE

LEGUME FAMILY

Annual to tree
Leaves generally compound, alternate, stipuled; leaflets generally entire
Inflorescence: generally raceme, spike, umbel or head; flowers sometime 1–2 in axils
Flowers generally bisexual, generally bilateral; hypanthium generally flat or cup-like; sepals generally 5, fused; petals generally 5, free, or the 2 lower ± fused; stamens 1–many, often 10 with 9 filaments at least partly fused, 1 (uppermost) free; pistil 1, ovary superior, generally 1-chambered, ovules 1–many, style, stigma 1
Fruit: legume, sometimes including a stalk-like base above receptacle, dehiscent, or indehiscent and breaking into 1-seeded segments, or indehiscent, 1-seeded, and achene-like
Seeds 1–several, often ± reniform, generally hard, smooth
Genera in family: ± 650 genera, 18,000 species: worldwide; with grasses, requisite in agriculture and most natural ecosystems. Many cultivated, most importantly Arachis , peanut; Glycine , soybean; Phaseolus , beans; Medicago ; Trifolium ; and many orns. [Polhill & Raven (eds) 1981 Advances in legume systematics; Allen & Allen 1981 Leguminosae] Family description and key to genera by Duane Isely.

ASTRAGALUS

Richard Spellenberg

Annual or perennial herb from crown, glabrous to hairy; hairs sometimes forked at base, branches parallel with leaf surface, sometimes very unequal
Stem 0 or prostrate to erect
Leaves odd-1-pinnate; leaflets generally jointed to midrib; stipules membranous, sometimes fused around stem at stem base
Inflorescence: raceme, axillary, sometimes head- or umbel-like; flowers 2–many
Flower bilateral; calyx 5-lobed; banner outside wings in bud, keel blades with small protrusion at base locking into pit on adjacent wing; 9 filaments fused, 1 free; ovary (and fruit) generally sessile, style slender, stigma minute
Fruit generally 1- or ± 2-chambered, often mottled, generally becoming ± dry; placenta on upper suture
Seeds 2–many, smooth, compressed, ± notched at attachment scar
Species in genus: > 2000 species: ± worldwide (380 in North America, 94 in CA including many rare taxa)
Etymology: (Greek: ankle-bone or dice, perhaps from rattling of seeds within fruit)
Reference: [Barneby 1964 Mem NY Bot Gard 20:1–1188; Isely 1986 Iowa State J Res 61:157–289]
Very difficult; both flower and fruit needed for identification; many good species appear similar; some species complexes need study. Taxa near province boundaries may appear in > 1 key. Varieties keyed under species for simplicity; species with vars. so identified in key. Fr length includes beak and any stalk-like base unless fruit body specified.

Native

A. purshii Hook.

PURSH'S MILKVETCH

Perennial, sparsely to densely cespitose; herbage hairs generally 1–2.3 mm, extremely fine, cottony, entangled, silvery or gray
Stem 0–14 cm
Leaf 1–15 cm; leaflets 3–17, 2–20 mm, narrowly elliptic to ± round, tips blunt to notched
Inflorescence ± among leaves; flowers 1–11, ascending
Flower: petals white, cream, pink-purple, or purple, banner 9–26 mm, recurved ± 40°, keel 8–21.2 mm
Fruit ascending, 7–27 mm, 4–13 mm wide, ovoid or widely lanceolate in side view; hairs generally very dense, generally 1.5–5 mm, white (fruit resembling a cotton boll), all ± wavy or all straight; chambers 1 or 2
Ecology: Dry flats, slopes
Elevation: 450–3350 m.
Bioregional distribution: Klamath Ranges, High North Coast Ranges, High Cascade Range, High Sierra Nevada, Tehachapi Mountain Area, Inner South Coast Ranges, Western Transverse Ranges, San Bernardino Mountains, Great Basin Floristic Province, Mojave Desert
Distribution outside California: to Canada, ND, Colorado
Locally and regionally variable. Like A. newberryi var. n. (which has longer, ± straight, partly spreading hairs).

Native

var. purshii

Stem 0–1 cm
Leaf 1.5–15 cm; leaflets 5–17, 2–10 mm
Inflorescence: flowers 1–6
Flower: calyx 12–19 mm; petals white or cream, sometimes pale lilac-tipped, banner 19–26 mm, keel 15–21.2 mm
Fruit 13–27 mm, 5–13 mm wide, straight or curved near tip; chamber 1; immature seeds 20–34
Chromosomes: 2n=22
Ecology: Dry flats, often with sagebrush
Elevation: 1050–2100 m.
Bioregional distribution: Modoc Plateau
Distribution outside California: to sw Canada, ND, Colorado
Horticultural information: DRN, DRY: 1, 16; DFCLT.